Monday, October 20, 2014

Alexa Bourne will make your dreams come true!

Alexa: Thanks for having me, Cate! I’m a middle school teacher by day
and a writer by nights, weekends and all school holidays. I’ve been writing
forever and published since 2012. I write mostly romantic suspense but I also
have a few contemporary books as well. My favorite things to do when I’m not
working on a story or grading papers, are to watch soccer, travel, read and
think about exercising.

Cate: You're one busy woman! Haha, I think about exercising too. Maybe it's a writer thing, lol.What do you love most about Halloween?Alexa: I love giving out candy, especially to the little kids who get
so excited. I love seeing their cute costumes, too.

Cate: Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past?Alexa: I used to go out Trick or Treating with my cousin, who is quite
a bit younger than I am. I loved getting to spend time with him.

Cate: Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?Alexa: Yes, actually. I was having a medical procedure done just before
my 7th birthday. It required me to be awake and stay still for a
long time. There was a man who sat on my left side wearing scrubs and his
glasses, and he talked to me. He kept me calm and helped me stay still. No one
was able to answer when we asked who it was, not the hospital staff nor my own
doctor.

Cate: Aw, your guardian angel. :) What frightens you the most?Alexa: Clowns. After watching the movie for Stephen King’s It (as a
college sophomore), I can’t even look at a clown anymore.

Cate: They are creepy *shudders* Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own?Alexa: I have been on ghost tours before. I went on one in Edinburgh,
Scotland, which was amazing and creepy. Then I also went on an unofficial tour
with some other authors at the Menger Hotel when I was in San Antonio for the
Wild Wicked Weekend conference. I didn’t see any ghosts on either tour.

Cate: I never catch sight of any on ghost tours, either, but they are fun. :) Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share?Alexa: I don’t have ANY recipes! I’m not the cook of the family. J

Cate: Lucky you! Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it
online.Alexa: Wake Me is a romantic suspense set in Austin, Texas. I’m very
excited because it’s my first venture into anything with paranormal elements.
Also, it’s the first book in my Hidden Destiny series, where a main character
from each book will have some paranormal ability he or she must learn to
accept.

Cate: Gorgeous cover! Care to share a blurb or excerpt?Alexa: Sure!

Her psychic dreams come true.

Sarah McKinley’s attempts to
take her foreknowledge of crimes to the Seattle Police Department marked her as
a troublemaker and were never taken seriously. Starting over in Austin, she
plans never to reveal her gift, but shortly after she arrives, the dreams begin
again, and the local police want to know why she has knowledge only the killer
could possess.

Detective Jesse Cordell watched
his mother con people with her “psychic ability” all through his childhood. He
hones in on Sarah, who has means, motive, and opportunity to have murdered the
victim in his current investigation. Instinct tells him she didn’t commit the
crime, but she definitely knows more than she’s letting on.

Can he put aside his doubts
and join forces with her, against everything he believes in, to find the real
killer? Or will he do his job and put her behind bars? After all, there’s no
such thing as the “psychic ability.” Or is there?

ExcerptThe buzz around her head
grew louder as more students joined the crowd. Yellow tape secured the crime
scene several yards away, but limbs still stuck over the cement edge of the
water fountain.A guy in plain clothes
ducked under the tape and ventured toward them. A gold shield hung from his belt.
“Can anybody tell me what happened?”“She can!” a male voice
from behind called out.Hoping to take attention
off herself, Sarah joined the other students in whirling around to see who the
guy meant. Several voices rushed toward the man, accosting him with different
versions of the crime. Sarah floated through the sea of people, away from the
crowd.For the nine months, she’d
lived in Austin, she’d never mentioned a word about her so-called psychic gift. Almost a full year had passed.
She’d started to think she would be normal again.But a brand-new dream
reminded her she would always be different.Heading toward the street,
she picked up her steps. Don’t look back.
You’ve done enough damage.“Miss! Hey, wait up!”“Damn.” She slowed her
feet. No point in trying to run. She’d look guilty of something then the cops
would have a reason to haul her off the school campus in cuffs.Turning, she came
face-to-face with the striking plain-clothes cop. “I’m Detective Cordell with
Austin Police.” He stood at least six inches taller than she, his jet-black
hair sheared in a standard cut for police. The bulk of his chest stretched the
material of his short-sleeved dress shirt. With dark eyes and sexy confidence,
he was all sorts of captivating. If he hadn’t been such a threat to her
freedom, she might even have called him handsome. “Do you have a minute? I’d
like to ask you some questions.”There died his charm.

Cate: Love it. What inspired you to write about the theme?Alexa: The characters from the
Hidden Destiny series have lived in my head for over a decade. When I first
wrote their stories, only Wake Me had a paranormal element. Plus, I was still a
new writer and I really couldn’t do the stories justice yet. So I kept the
manuscripts and decided to “retell” the stories when I became a better writer.
This past spring I decided it was time to tackle the series again and with some
brainstorming help from my students, we came up with many of the details for
the series. (Just a note: I talk to my students about the writing process and
my writer duties in general terms. I don’t share my pen name or my book titles
with them…at least not until they are 18!)

Cate: Very cool! Anything else you’d like to share?Alexa: I invite readers to learn more about me and my books. Come visit
my website! www.alexabourne.com.

Cate: Woot, you guys are so lucky - Alexa has a giveaway for you!Alexa: I’m happy to giveaway a Wake Me treat! I have a beautiful dream
catcher my best friend made, some other cool stuff, and I might be persuaded to
throw in some Halloween candy, too!

I was very surprised when I became an adult about how excited I became to give out candy. I loved getting it, but to voluntarily give it away?!? I've had about 10 trick or treaters in the last 12 years and I think it's so sad (and strange cause there's lots of kids where I've lived). I also miss how excited and proud the smaller kids are about their costumes, boys even more so than girls most of the time.

Ghosts! I've not seen one or experienced the effects of being near one. I just don't know if I'd be scared...but I'd like to experience it at least once all the same. :-) In the meantime, I like to read about them and dreams and psychic abilities with my romance. Kinda exciting! jdh2690@gmail.com

I was terrified of clowns! Scary stuff. I went on a ghost tour in Charleston, SC. It was a jail that housed serial killers. Thankfully I didn't see anything. However, on a ghost tour in St Augustine, my niece's friend got a picture that clearly shows the upper torso and face of what we have argued is either and American Indian or a Soldier. I was there but didn't see anything. She didn't either. But the picture really shows it plainly.